18 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



The observations made in this locality during a period of three 

 y6ars indicate an abundance of food, and the strong currents already 

 mentioned assure its distribution over a wide area. Oyster food is 

 more abundant in this locality than at any other of the 40 stations 

 at which observations were made, excepting only the middle of Bara- 

 taria Bay and Falsemouth Bay. The following table shows the de- 

 tails of the data relating to the observations on the organisms which 

 constitute the greater part of the oyster's food, together with the 

 salinities and temperatures of the water at the time the specimens 

 were taken. 



Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water at Bayou 



St. Denis. 



Date. 



Specific 



gravity. 



Temper- 

 ature. 



Food organisms per 

 liter of water. 



Number. Volume. 



April 24 



26 



May 25 



28 



June 28. 



November .5. 



January 8 



March 16 



April 15 



16 



29 

 May 21.!!!!!! 

 June 25 



27 



December 11 . 



May 27. 



29. 



July 7.. 



1906. 



1907. 



1908. 



1.0006 

 1.0081 

 1.0114 

 1.0115 

 1.0115 

 1.0170 



1.0128 

 1. 0010 

 1.0105 

 1.0126 

 1.0095 

 1.0021 

 1. 0028 

 1.0028 

 1.0060 



1. 0105 

 1.0106 

 1.0099 



January 27 



Average. 



1.0133 



74.3 



77 



79.7 



83.3 



77.9 



68.0 



74.0 



70.0 



73 



72.5 



80.0 



79.0 



84.0 



84 



55 



10,000 

 14,000 

 13,000 

 12,000 

 18, 000 



3,000 

 5,600 

 24,000 

 21,000 

 6,300 

 3,500 

 8,000 

 7,350 

 5,000 



4,200 

 8,250 

 12,750 



9,000 



Cu. mm. 

 0. 160 

 .308 

 .189 

 .352 

 .126 

 .140 



.153 

 .301 

 1.321 

 .979 

 .369 

 .163 

 .206 

 .346 

 .190 



10, 145 



.163 

 .318 

 .346 



.280 

 .337 



During the period of three years in which the w^ork continued no 

 oyster enemies were observed on the plantation excepting a growth 

 of mussels wdiich appeared during the freshet of 1907 but disappeared 

 later when the salinity of the water became higher. 



The experiment began in January, 1900, when the Louisiana Oyster 

 Commission, at the request of the Bureau, planted about 50 barrels of 

 unculled oysters to serve as brood stock. On April 24 and 2G follow- 

 ing, the first cultch was planted on three areas, each one-twentieth 

 of an acre in extent, 50 bushels of material being deposited on each. 

 On one square oyster shells were spread broadcast, on another they 

 were deposited in heaps of 2 bushels each, and the third was planted 

 with clam shells broadcast. On May 25 and June 28 the operations 



